According to US media reports, a new report released on January 17 showed that Rudy Giuliani, the former mayor of New York City and a member of Trump's lawyer team, peddled Trump's amnesty order at a price of $2 million (about 12.96 million yuan). That raises concerns that Trump could use his final presidency to issue a series of pardons.
According to a New York Times interview with people familiar with the matter, many of Trump's allies made a fortune by charging fees to persuade the president to issue a pardon order. A former senior adviser to the Trump campaign agreed that if he could persuade the president to pardon former CIA official John Kyriacu, who was convicted of leaking classified information, he would receive a $50,000 "bonus." Giuliani's aides told former CIA official Kyriacu while drinking at the Trump Hotel in Washington, D.C., in 2020 that if he paid $2 million to Giuliani, Trump's personal lawyer, he would use his influence as one of President Trump's closest advisers to get him pardoned. While Kyriacu did not accept the offer, one of his aides alerted the FBI that Giuliani may have illegally sold the pardon order, but Giuliani questioned that claim.
Giuliani has come under fire recently for inciting thousands of Trump supporters to storm the U.S. Capitol for a "combat trial" delaying Congressional approval of Biden's election. Recent reports have also shown that Giuliani has lost Trump's support after failed attempts to challenge the election results. In 2012, Kyriacu illegally disclosed the name of a U.S. Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) official who allegedly participated in the waterboarding of a U.S. prisoner. Kiriacou said he was told he could seek a pardon so he could carry a pistol and receive a pension. Kiriacou added that he met Giuliani for a drink at the Trump International Hotel during his 2020 request for pardon. When Giuliani went to the bathroom, a close friend of Giuliani suggested that Giuliani could help: "Give Giuliani $2 million and he can go talk to the president about pardon." Kyriacu said: "That's funny, two million dollars, are you crazy?" Even if I had $2 million, I wouldn't have used $2 million to recoup my $700,000 pension. So Kyriacu did not agree to this "arrangement.".
At a party in 2020, Kyriacu shared the story. After former Air Force Gen. Robert McLean was present, he was shocked by the idea of Giuliani selling the pardon order. Democrats fear that in the final days of Trump's imminent departure, he may take unprecedented action to amnesty his own actions. On Christmas Eve 2020, Trump pardoned 15 people, including former campaign aide George Papadopoulos. A New York Times report showed that several others close to Trump were also using the promised pardon to make money.
Proofreader: Fu Ruyu